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Quick Look: Wispwood

Designer: Reed Ambrose
Artist: Štěpán Drašťák
Publisher: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2025

No. of Players: 1-4

Ages: 10+

Playing Time: 30-45 minutes.

Find more info HERE.

From the Publisher:

Disclaimer: The publisher provided the copy of Wispwood. The opinions expressed in the review are completely my own.

Review

When I first saw Wispwood being offered up for review, I immediately knew I had to try it. Was it because it sported a time-treasured Tile Placement mechanic? Was it because it seemed to present a Tetris-like puzzle aspect to it? Or, was it because it seemed to offer unique gameplay when compared to the many other Tile Placement games out there? 

Nope, not for any of the above reasons.

It was because the game featured cats, my daughter just happens to love all furry felines, and I figured she would love to try Wispwood as a result. 

So much for my usual scientific process of scoping out new games to try on the basis of gameplay exclusively!

Now Tile Placement games occupy a very peculiar niche in my board game collection. On the one hand, all of the ones on my shelf are good (very good even in some cases!), but each of them also suffers from being very similar to each other. Sometimes, eerily too similar. And I walked into Wispwood knowing that it seemed to present something unique that I don’t quite have yet (Tetris-esque mechanics), but also recognizing that much of its style seems very familiar.

Were it a deck builder game, I would probably dock it a few points for being too much of a copy cat of other games (no pun intended), but for some odd reason , I usually give tile placement games a free pass in this area, and I am not altogether sure why this is. But I suspect that in the end, it has to do with the comforting familiarity the scoring process has for many of these games, as it is often nearly identical.

The premise of Wispwood is relatively simple ; Cats like magic, and each player’s job is to populate the forest and its magical inhabitants known as Wisps to your cat’s satisfaction. Do this in sufficiently productive fashion to gain the most points and thus win the game.

There are 5 types of Wisp tiles available in this game, as well as forest tiles on the reverse side of every Wisp tile. During each player’s respective turn, they will be allowed to take one Wisp tile from the central board, and then place it in their personal forest space, which will be either a 4×4, 5×5, or 6×6 array depending on what round you are in. The catch is that whatever Wisp you select each turn carries with it a conditional shape (or two) you must configure it in with extra forest tiles that are readily available into your own personal grid. 

Much like Tetris, this can create a conundrum of sorts in that not only must you factor in what type of Wisp you would like to collect for gathering points , but also  whether you can even place the Wisp given the spatial limitations it can come with!

If you cannot place any Wisps, you can take a “Tree turn”, which functionally robs you of an opportunity to place Wisps, but lets you place Forest tiles into gaps that would be otherwise impossible to fill in your play space. And it is important to fill every space, because there is a bonus at the end of each round for those who complete their array fully!

When one player completely fills their grid, each other player gets one last turn before points for the round are tallied and the next round starts. After 3 rounds, the game is over.

In addition, players each have a cat tile with unique art that gives static special powers that can only be used once (until it is recharged when taking a Tree turn). These powers let you either recycle unwanted Wisps in the central area or use any shape configuration when placing your Wisps.

There is a great How to Play Video on the Wispwood site that can provide a great visual summary of the rules so that I do not bog you down with too many details , as this is a review after all. As such , let’s now talk about my impressions of the game.

Now for the review.

First the good :

—Component quality for game pieces is all superlative. In what I have come to expect from a lot of Czech Games Edition games, there is a small bit of “construction” to be done in folding and taping certain game pieces (with provided double-backed tape), but this in no way detracts from the experience, but rather solidifies it with a more durable (and cute) cat player piece for everyone. But all of the cardboard is exceptionally and satisfyingly durable beyond reproach!

—The art is quite vibrant and encapsulates the magical essence it is trying to evoke

—Scoring mechanisms are about what we expect for this type of game ; however, the addition of randomized cards for each Wisp type makes each game more unique. Rather than static scoring abilities as is typical for most tiles in such placement games, Wispwood’s use of randomizers for each game goes a long way to adding replayability. 

—The Tetris-like quality is also emblematic of this game’s distinctness among a sea of others in a crowded genre. 

—Very kid friendly! (Our youngest to play was 7). Easy to learn, but strategically satisfying, even for grown ups.

Now for what is probably the more unfavorable section of the review : our issues with Wispwood.

Firstly, let me reiterate that Wispwood is a good game ; very good even. However, I can also say the same thing about every other tile placement game in my collection as well. The big question is “how much does Wispwood stand out from the crowd?”.

And despite the use of randomizers and the aforementioned Tetris-esque quality it brings, at the end of the day, Wispwood feels very similar to the other tile placement games in my collection. If I had a hankering for playing one of the other games, for example, playing Wispwood feels so close to playing the others that it totally nullifies and satisfies my desire for playing them.

I previously alluded to the satisfying comfort of familiarity that many tile placement games have for me in terms of their scoring mechanics. And I sense this is the biggest contributor to a sense of “sameness” for these types of experiences. They are not bad , not any of them. But I find myself in a very difficult position trying to recommend one over the other. If you are just starting out on tile placement games, I would most surely recommend Wispwood! But if you have a healthy amount of this style of game in your collection already, I might give pause to reaching for your wallet.

Among other quirks we noticed was that configuring a 4×4, 5×5, or 6×6 tile array may present some challenges. In particular (see photo) when starting a new round, your old Wisps remain in your play area, while all surrounding forest tiles are removed. This will leave large gaps in alignment between Wisps, and if subjected to any bumps or mishaps, this could potentially ruin a game if players cannot remember relative positioning of each Wisp after such a seismic shift. We did not directly experience this phenomenon, but we each gauged the potential for it and determined it is a real risk. Needless to say, we were all extremely diligent in ensuring we didn’t come down with a case of butterfingers in our games!

Box flimsy, component quality is good though.

Thematically, a magically enchanted forest navigated by a curious cat works…but it also could have been literally any other theme. Substitute cats and wisps for faeries and trolls, cars and trains, or mushrooms and berries, and you could have gotten a game that works equivalently. I do wish that a slightly more expansive description to explain the world of Wispwood had been provided other than the quick sentence or two that is used to describe the game ; that would have indeed placated my sense of sterility in this department. Again, Wispwood is indeed highly artistic in its design, and while no one is expecting a full narrative on it, a little more embellishment in its setting would have been nice!

Final Thoughts :

I will say it again. Wispwood is a good / great game that captures the essence of what makes many tile placement games shine. Whether or not the game is something you should consider buying is, in my opinion, only a matter of how many tile placement games you would like to enjoy in your collection!

Thanks to CGE for providing me the avenue for me to share thoughts on this game.

Did you (or will you) get it based on our review? Please comment below letting us know!